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About Us

The undisputed leader in the fine and historic arms industry since 1993, Rock Island Auction Company provides a global platform for the discovery, sale, and celebration of these timeless treasures.

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About Us

The undisputed leader in the fine and historic arms industry since 1993, Rock Island Auction Company provides a global platform for the discovery, sale, and celebration of these timeless treasures.

Start Selling

Our RootsIn 1993, founder Pat Hogan held Rock Island Auction Company’s first sale in the garage of one of his existing business ventures. Ever the serial entrepreneur, one of Hogan’s businesses was involved in photo development, which blossomed into firearms photography, and eventually led to taking photos for the book Luger: The Multi-National Pistol. Beautiful images and connections to highly collectible guns were two critical ingredients in our company’s origin.

Hogan, a Navy veteran raised in Chicago’s tough south side, had an insatiable work ethic, and the same tenacity was plied to his new auction house. The company laid its foundation on innovation, hard work, a high standard of excellence, and always asking, “What’s next?” – all values that permeate Rock Island Auction Company today.

We Sell With PassionThese ideals, forged with a vigorous commitment to our clients, grew Rock Island Auction Company from a small, family-run local auction house, to the world-renowned, industry dominating, international auction firm.

Just 10 years after its founding, Rock Island Auction earned the crown of #1 firearms auction house in the world, a title it has held ever since. Each year its position atop the industry becomes ever more entrenched, thanks to strong founding principles and a workforce that truly lives the company motto, “We Sell With Passion.”

Ours is a dedicated team intrinsically driven to excellence. Not only do we love what we do, we understand the importance of each individual role. From our call center and photographers, to our professional drivers and experienced historians, each person knows that even the smallest details play a crucial part in sharing history, preserving legacies, and building lasting relationships with our clients.

Passion will always be the North Star that guides our present and future course.

Elevate Firearms CollectingAt Rock Island Auction Company, our mission is to elevate the pursuit of fine and historic firearms. We believe in this marketplace, in our business, and that collector firearms remain under-appreciated as a collecting genre and undervalued as an alternative financial hard asset. Everything we do is designed to convey the value in these objects and to ignite passion for this noble pastime.

Appropriate for a business that honors legacy, in 2016 Pat Hogan passed the reins of Rock Island Auction Company to his son, Kevin Hogan. Building off the tremendous foundation laid by his father, Kevin has guided the company to unprecedented heights with a bold, new vision.

In December 2023, RIAC took its most ambitious step yet, one of unparalleled investment in the dignified field of fine arms collecting, with the unveiling of the finest brick and mortar auction venue in the world. Launching a new era for gun collectors, it was created to be the new, state-of-the-art epicenter of fine and historic firearm collecting, and the results speak for themselves.

This new 90,000 square foot cathedral of collecting elevates not only the industry, but the firearms themselves, giving them a worthy setting for their history, their artistry, and their legacy. It is a realization of a 30-year dream, and yet such a destination for fine firearms is long overdue.

The finest brick and mortar auction facility in the United States, it is 90,000 square feet filled with cutting edge technology, relentless hospitality, and meticulous presentation. The new world selling headquarters for arms collectors of all disciplines not only holds auctions, but also accommodates lectures, hosts collector events, displays elite firearms, and advances the pursuit of gun collecting to new and exciting heights.

At Rock Island Auction, we use the phrase, “History Lives Here,” and now, so does the future.

Sell With UsThe Past That Drives Us

Is both a passion and a calling, a way to connect with and preserve the treasures of the past. No one has been more committed to sharing this passion with the world than Rock Island Auction Company.

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